Memories of a Slime

"Wake up!" a little girl yelled, followed by a playful poke. "I know you are awake!" she stated, continuing to poke, only harder this time, with an image of a little blond girl appearing, staring downward. 

The little blond girl was wearing a simple, worn-out tan dress made of cheap fabric with worn-out black fabric shoes.

"COME ON, LET'S GO!" she yelled, running into the distance with her long, braided ponytail moving side to side as an autumn breeze blew by, flashing a large, cheerful, cheeky smile. 

*TSHISSSS*
The scenery suddenly changed, with the ground shaking aggressively and loud screaming. 

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!??" a street vendor yelled as he tried to catch his produce. 
"ARE WE UNDER ATTACK?!?!" an adventurer yelled, searching the sky for monsters. 
"WHERE ARE THE GUARD??!!?" a woman carrying her baby yelled, running for cover. 

The blue sky began to turn purple as a large purple magic circle appeared in the air, with the ground bursting open, and it started to swallow everyone. 

*TSHISSSS* 

"Here, wear this, okay?" A female mage stated, placing a navy blue robe over the little blond girl's head, "This was something I was going to give my little sister as a birthday present, but you need it more than anything right now. This will keep you warm and safe." She smiled, followed by images of purple flames engulfing the female mage as she screamed.

*TSHISSSS* 

"This is it.....huh?" A swordsman muttered softly, with the little blond girl attempting to heal his wound. "Please save your strength," he requested, grabbing hold of her little hands, "You've done enough.......thank you," he smiled, with the light in his eyes fading away.

*TSHISSSS* 

"Please don't let the monster eat my body when I die," an adventurer pleaded with the little girl on their deathbed, requesting she order the Slime to dissolve their remains upon death. 

This same plea continued a few dozen more times as the survivors' number dwindled. 

 *TSHISSSS* 

"I don't want to die!" the little blond girl cried, as she tried to heal her wounded right side, hoping to stop the bleeding as she held onto her locket with her right hand.  "I want to see my big sister! I want to see the Sun again!" she pleaded, with her cries continuing for a few minutes, with total silence following afterwards.

"I understand! I must bring my master to see the Sun again!" 


"I understand now," Aki stated softly, out of breath and dripping in sweat, "Ao, you've been down here alone all this time, waiting for someone to bring her back to the surface, right?" he asked.

Ao quickly shook its blue body up and down. 

"Okay! I promise, I'll bring her to the surface no matter what!" Aki firmly promised, gently stroking Ao, "I promised I will take good care of your partner, so please rest in peace," he stated, placing his hands together and began praying for her.

Aki proceeded to carefully disassemble the skeletal remains and store them in a soft sack, along with the damaged robe. He proceeded to inspect the small bag the little girl was carrying, revealing two small potion jars that contained black liquid with a small journal containing illegible text.

"My Universal Translator should allow me to read all common languages, so why is it not translating them? This possibly couldn't be a type of ancient text, could it?" Aki pondered, " If this is a type of ancient text, how old is this Labyrinth Dungeon?  Wait.....how old is Ao? " realizing that he forgot to check on Ao's status, Appraisal.

Elder Water Slime lvl: 475 / SS-Rank Monster /  Name: Ao

Elder Slimes are extremely rare monsters as they have lived for more than a thousand years and are known for their vast knowledge & strength.

Water Slime is known for its ability to purify dirty water for drinking and is often found in streams.

"*SPITTTFFT*, A FUCKING THOUSAND YEARS?!?!" Aki choked on his saliva, "How old is Ao really then?" taping Ao's name. 

Elder Water Slime lvl: 475 / SS-Rank Monster / Name: Ao
Age: 2,458 years old
Title: Wolf Slayer, HellHound Slayer, Hermit, 
Skills: Water Shot, Water Prison, Water Blade, Water Purification, Water Barrier, Water Scatter Shot, Acid Shot, Poison Shot, Poison Prison, Heal, High Heal, Elder Heal

"What the hell?" Aki muttered, looking at Ao's overpowering skill list,  "Slimes are supposed to be the weakest monster out there, and I just tamed a Slime God," he realized, trying to gather his thoughts.

Suddenly, the room began to shake violently, with a large purple magic circle appearing in the center of the room, the same purple magic circle from Ao's memories. 

"Uh-oh," Aki muttered, grabbing Ao from the ground and running to one of the tunnel passages, *Earth Wall*. He proceeded to seal the tunnel passage shut and chiseled a peephole with a small knife.

From within the purple magic circle, a large pack of sixty Hellhounds appeared. The pack proceeded to split into groups of tens, each approaching a passage opening with a group standing right in front of Aki.

"Please don't break it down!!" Aki muttered softly, closed his eyes, and held his breath for a few moments before hearing the group leave, returning to the center, and proceeding to wait.

After a few minutes had passed, the remaining Hellhounds returned from their respective tunnels and reconvened in the center of the room. The large pack of sixty Hellhounds was reduced to twenty-three, and with a single loud bark, they proceeded to travel down the entrance tunnel.

"So that's how the monsters in Labyrinth Dungeon respawn, huh?" Aki stated, "It feels a bit mechanical, like a robot performing a task, and kinda creepy," he commented, noticing the robotic movements coming from the Hellhounds.

Aki turned around and began slowly walking down the long passage, immediately understanding why the group's number shrank after using his trap detection skill. The tunnel was heavily filled with multiple traps that attacked from all sides, killing anyone who mistook a step. At the end of the tunnel was a large golden chest, with trap detection identifying it as a trap too. Aki proceeded to return to the tunnel opening, destroying the earth wall, and slowly investigated the other passages.

"Hmm....starting from the top left side: the first and third tunnel's chest were booby trapped, while the second chest contained this bracelet with a firestone," Aki muttered, notating the information on a transparent window that projected out of his Guild Card, "On the right side: the second and third tunnel's chest were booby trapped, with the first tunnel's chest holding a Stamina Ring"  wearing it on his right index finger.

"I wonder what was behind the boss's room?" Aki questioned, walking over to the large metal door, with Ao pulling him back and Shrimpy pecking on his head. "I'm just going to take a peek," with his curiosity outweighing his fear at the moment.

Aki placed his hands on the metal door surface, with the grey metal door turning black, and an engraved image of a large wolf being held down by purple lightning bolts appeared. Aki proceeded to push on the metal door slightly and caught a glimpse of a large black wolf curled up. Appraisal

King of Wolves: Lycaon lvl: 327 / SS-Rank Monster

*HOWLLLINGGGG*, the Wolf King howled loudly while remaining curled up, striking Aki with a taunt skill.

Before Aki could finish appraising the wolf, he had begun to enter a frenzy state and was being drawn into attacking it. Ao quickly jumped on top of Aki's head and began to shower him with *Water Purification*, removing the debuff. As Aki's consciousness slowly returned, Shrimpy dove downwards, striking him in the forehead and sending him backward onto the ground. As he started to fall backward, he released his hand on the metal door, with it shutting close, returning to a grey color.

"OUCH! I'm sorry!" Aki apologized, "I wanted to see if there was a way out from there," he explained his reason. "It looks like if we want to leave, we will have to head backward and into *gulp* the Ice Hawk territory," as his body filled with despair.